The weather finally cleared up yesterday. When we woke up, there wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the Remarkables were again visible on the other side of Lake Wakatipu. These mountains are indeed remarkable, and absolutely beautiful when not covered in cloud, although they are actually called “The Remarkables” because they are one of two mountain ranges in the world that runs truly north-south (the other is the Rockies).

Something interesting I’ve never mentioned: New Zealand uses WWII air raid sirens when there are accidents/fires so the fire department can spring into action. One is going off right now. I’ve gotten used to the sound now, but it was definitely disconcerting when I arrived; in one hostel I stayed in, the siren went off in the middle of the night and a girl dived under the bed yelling “they’re bombing us!” Who’s bombing? Not quite sure.

Johanna really wanted to go on the luge, which is an 800-meter track that you zoom down on a little sled-like contraption that I went on the last time I was in Queenstown. It was a lot of fun–plus it has fantastic views, being at the top of the hill behind Queenstown in the “Skyline” complex–and I thought it would be even more fun if I went with someone I could race against. We bought a 5-ride ticket and went on the scenic track (required for your first run) and then on the advanced track for the next 4 rides. It was really a lot of fun, even if I left Johanna behind most of the time as I squealed around corners and over small hills. What a rush–but one you can control, unlike most of the other adrenalin activities you can do in Queenstown.

After that, we went into town and had Fergburgers. Apparently not having a Fergburger in Queenstown is like “going to Egypt and not visiting the pyramids.” I couldn’t argue with that logic really; plus, I was very hungry. I’ll agree with everyone else in Queenstown and say that it was a great meal.

Since Johanna has a car, we were free to drive around Queenstown and see much more than can be seen on foot. We first went to Deer Park Heights, which I visited three years ago on an organized tour. This trip was much better because we could take time to look at the amazing views/laugh at the hilarious wildlife. Some might recognize the picture further up in this post; it’s one of my favorite pictures that I’ve ever taken because it’s just so hilarious. Well, the donkeys were at it again; the six in the feeding pen were willing to let their lips just flap in the breeze in hope that they could strain far enough and eat anything we were holding onto. On the way down, a herd of about nine donkeys surrounded our car and refused to move, and we ended up with no less than 4 donkey noses sniffing around the inside of the car before we could get our windows up! There were plenty of other animals there as well–deer, goats, llamas–but the donkeys definitely took the cake.

Even though it was getting late-ish in the day, we drove up to the Remarkables ski area since the entrance was not all that far from Deer Park. It was a 13.5km drive up gravel roads with some very steep drops just to the left of the road, but we made it. It was very desolate at the top. All of the chairs were piled at the bottom of their respective lifts. The ski lodge was open, but only for visitors to use the bathrooms. The lights weren’t even on, so we had to sneak into the darkness until the bathroom lights detected us and flickered on. Only one toilet stall had toilet paper.

 Despite the utter loneliness, the drive was completely worth it, if only for the amazing view from the top. We could see over the hills around Queenstown to the snow-capped peaks in Mount Aspiring National Park beyond. The view only got better as we ascended on the track to Lake Alta, which was supposedly 1.5 hours return. We didn’t get very far though, since it was already 6.45pm and finishing the track would mean that we’d have to drive down in the dark–not an idea we really savoured.

Johanna dropped me off in Arrowtown and then headed back to Queenstown, since she started the Routeburn track today. I’ve spent the day wandering through the historic town, which has over 60 restored buildings from the gold rush in the mid-1800s, and I really enjoyed the 2 hour Sawpit Gully track, which followed the Arrow River and then looped around “German Hill” before the valley opened to a spectacular view of the Remarkables and Lake Hayes.

Even though Arrowtown is a relatively small place, one of my favorite things about it is the huge selection of food on offer. When Johanna and I visited a couple days ago, we had some fantastic crepes at the Bonjour Café before I picked up some of the best fudge I’ve ever eaten at the Remarkables Sweet Shop. I’ve restrained myself and haven’t eaten the entire blocks of creme brulee and apple pie (which actually tastes like a slice of applie pie!) that I got there.